Early identification and evaluation of slowly emerging problems related to the ubiquitous networked computing & communications environment in the state of Hawaii

by Winter, Jenifer Sunrise

Abstract (Summary)

Ubiquitous Networked Computing (UNC) is an emerging environment encompassing future developments in the areas of Pervasive Computing, Mobile Computing, and Ubiquitous Computing (e.g., Weiser, 1991). This research sought to enhance policy decision making by identifYing and assessing emerging problems related to UNC in Hawai?i over a twenty-year time frame. This study also investigated differences in problem assessment between information technology specialists and non-specialists. A six-phase methodological process employing scenario planning, electronic focus groups, and problem assessment surveys was developed to investigate perceptions about emerging problems. Specialists and non-specialists generated eighty unique problem statements and additional members from each group assessed the relative importance of these statements. Specialists further assessed a subset of 24 statements according to four problem criteria adapted from previous research by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (1977). Non-specialists participating in the electronic focus groups expressed distinct and different concerns from the specialists. Further, both groups found the statements generated by non-specialists to be valuable contributions, arguing for their inclusion in the process of problem identification. By the Mann-Whitney U test (pBibliographical Information: